In the late 1980s, the Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area was established by Programme for Belize to protect more than 110,000 acres of tropical rainforest in northwest Belize. Soon after, Programme for Belize partnered with The Nature Conservancy to expand the protected area to more than 230,000 acres, which included a 15,000-acre purchase from a logging company that was offering its forest land for sale to agricultural producers in the region.

Carbon Opportunity

In order to help finance the land acquisition and pay for ongoing protection measures, Programme for Belize and The Nature Conservancy decided to develop a carbon offset project.

TerraCarbon Solution

The project was one of the first REDD projects in the world to be designed and monitored, and the partners were awarded more than 1 million carbon offsets from avoiding deforestation on the property. To help monetize these offsets and generate funding, the partners turned to TerraCarbon to help market the offsets to voluntary buyers.

Conservation Results

TerraCarbon worked closely with Programme for Belize and The Nature Conservancy to develop a customized marketing plan and tools that targeted buyers with potential interests in Belize and that leveraged the pre-existing relationships of the partners. With the help of TerraCarbon, the project has made several large offset sales to voluntary buyers that have generated critical funding for the project.